Newsday
June 9,
2004
BUFFALO,
N.Y. (AP) _ A union
steward accused with more than a dozen of his union colleagues of using
strong-arm tactics to control Niagara County construction projects pleaded guilty
Wednesday and agreed to cooperate against his co-defendants.
Brian Perry,
43, faces up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty in U.S. District Court
to racketeering conspiracy.
Perry admitted
that he and other members of Laborers Local 91 used violence at a Niagara Falls
hotel construction site where a truck driver was beaten and other contractors
were intimidated in 1998. That same year, Perry admitted attacking four members
of the Tilesetters Union at a supermarket job site, according to the U.S.
Attorney's Office.
Perry, a
member of the union since 1982, was indicted along with 13 others in 2002, elating
Niagara County officials who said the union held a stranglehold on construction
contracts and economic development in the county for 30 years. A 15th defendant
was added later.
Authorities
said the union, taking orders from its top officers, injured workers and
destroyed property to control hiring by contractors and developers.
The union's
business manager, Michael "Butch" Quarcini, who was among those
charged, died last year. Perry's sentencing was set for Jan. 7.